■ ENVIRONMENT
Ghost money bags released
The Taichung County Government has begun distributing paper bags for the collective burning of “ghost money” during the traditional Tomb Sweeping Festival. With the annual festival approaching, 10,000 bags bearing ancestor tributes have been delivered to township offices for residents’ use, a county environmental protection official said yesterday. Residents only need to fill in their ancestors’ names on the bags and the county’s cleaning squads will collect them and burn them at incinerators next month in a bid to reduce air pollution, the official said. Local residents who do not receive the bags can download copies of the tributes from the county’s Environmental Protection Bureau Web site and paste them onto cartons of ghost money and cleaning squads will collect them for burning, the official said.
■ CULTURE
Film fest extends deadline
The 2009 Urban Nomad Film Fest has extended its application deadline for entry in this year’s festival to March 11. The theme of the year is “Sex, Drugs and Human Rights.” The festival will be held in Taipei and Hsinchu late next month and in May. A total of NT$12,000 in prizes will be awarded to the best short local films. Organizers said films under 15 minutes stand a greater chance of being accepted. Films should have been made prior to 2007 and priority will go to films with both English and Chinese. Volunteer translators and event staff are needed. For more information on the event or volunteer opportunities, contact the organizers at urbannomadfilmfest@gmail.com.
■ WELFARE
Legislator urges microcredit
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) promised yesterday to evaluate a proposal that the nation establish a bank for the poor similar to that established by Bangladesh Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Liu made the promise in response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shyu Jong-shyoung’s (徐中雄) suggestion on the legislative floor that such a bank be set up to provide microcredit to the poor whose loan applications were usually turned down by banks. Shyu suggested that the government establish a bank for the poor by sourcing funds from the foundations of the nation’s financial institutions. However, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Sean Chen (陳沖) disagreed with Shyu’s suggestion, saying the government could not intervene in the foundations of the nation’s financial institutions as they were independent organizations.
■ CULTURE
Film to make millionaire
The film distributor that will bring the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire to local movie theaters announced yesterday it will give NT$1 million to a lucky draw winner who sees the film, which opens in Taiwan next week. “In the current sluggish economy, we would like to bring a sense of hope to society and create Taiwan’s own millionaire miracle,” said Yang Chun-min (楊駿閔), the head of Serenity Entertainment International (SEI), at an event to promote the movie. Movie-goers who wish to enter the draw may do so by sending a postcard and two ticket stubs and contact information to SEI between March 13, when the movie opens in Taiwan, and April 6. The winner will be announced in the middle of next month on the company’s Web site, serenity.pixnet.net/blog.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
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